Disappointed Holder takes positives from loss

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP):

Jason Holder's disappointment was clearly evident as he slowly walked from the field after being dismissed late yesterday in the second test against Australia.

For almost two days, the West Indies looked a real challenger to Australia in the second test; and for a few hours on the fourth day, it seemed that a draw was

possible.

That all ended when captain Holder was dismissed by Mitchell Marsh for 68 to break up a defiant 100-run partnership with Denesh Ramdin.

"It hurts, you know. You're playing for your country and you lose games. It's not a nice feeling, especially with all we've been through," Holder said. "It's just disappointing, but again, I thought we showed a lot of improvement from the first Test match.

"It's just a situation where we just need to believe. We took a lot more belief when we went to bat," Holder said. "You could see the guys really try to apply themselves. Once we continue to do that, we'll show better signs in the third Test match."

bowling issues

Bowling is still clearly an issue, with the West Indies taking just 10 wickets from three innings over the two tests.

"We've just got to look at how we bowl," Holder said. "We didn't control the game the way we'd like. Our bowlers really need to take stock of what they're doing and understand a little bit more the situations in the game."

Holder identified Darren Bravo's innings of 81 in the first innings as one of the highlights of the second test, a form he hopes will be carried over into the third test in Sydney, starting Sunday.

"Darren Bravo has been exceptional so far. He's led our batting and is showing signs of maturity," he said. "Darren has a lot of talent, and a lot of eyes have always been on Darren for the way he plays. It's just good to see he's maturing."